The Journey Home - Pauline's to The Cottage

It's history now but one the journey home I did take some photos and I thought I'd share a few with you. 

I stopped in Taupo which was bustling.  All the water activities were taking place.

 

 Mt Ruapehu - a live volcano - in the Tongariro National Park South of Lake Taupo

 

 The Ernest Kemp on which the family sailed round Lake Taupo in January 2008 (and upon which I naturally posted).

Friends Café - where we always stop for coffee or lunch.  It is an excellent meeting place on the lake front and I've never yet not managed to park nearby.  If I'm meeting someone in Taupo this is where we meet.  The coffee and food are excellent.

One for Gaz

When I was in Taupo this was a common site. I can't remember what you call the sport of being suspended from a kite and being towed by a speedboat.

Ruapehu

On the day before I arrived in Taupo, Martin, Wendy and the children went up above the snowline on Ruapehu (pronounced Rua paywho). That is something I have yet to experience.

Mount Ruapehu, or just Ruapehu, is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It is 40 kilometres southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupo, within Tongariro National Park. The North Island's major skifields and only glaciers are on its slopes.

Ruapehu is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the largest active volcano in New Zealand. It is the highest point in the North Island and includes three major peaks: Tahurangi (2,797 m), Te Heuheu (2,755 m) and Paretetaitonga (2,751 m). The deep, active crater is between the peaks and fills with a crater lake between major eruptions.

It figures quite frequently in our news bulletins. At least it did when I was last here because the water level behind the dam was rising and a lahar or mudflow was expected. There had been a major one in 1953 which had caused the loss of 151 lives. Since then warning systems had been put in place. The lahar occurred on 18 March 2007 - a week after I had left New Zealand. No lives were lost.

The last major eruption took place in 1995 although there have been smaller ones since; the latest being in September 2007 which occurred without warning and injured one person.

You can read more information and there are more photos at Wikipedia

Ruapehu from on MV Ernest Kemp on Lake Taupo

Ruapehu across Lake Taupo

The Bach

Bach (pronounced Batch) is the name given in New Zealand to structures akin to small, often very modest holiday homes or beach houses. They are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the midst of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the middle class.

The true bach is almost always a small structure, often made of cheap or recycled material like fibrolite (asbestos sheets), wrinkly tin (corrugated iron) or used timber. In Hebridean terms the the bach is New Zealand's airidh or sheiling. They were influenced by the backwoods cabins and sheds of the early settlers and farmers. Many baches do not have modern amenities like connections to the water and electricity grid. Department of Conservation figures estimate that more that 50,000 bachs exist around New Zealand, a high number considering the country's population of barely more than 4 million people.

While older baches tend to be relatively poor structures, modern kit structures are becoming popular amongst bach owners. Nowadays, given their positions - usually on a shore or lakeside, they can be very valuable indeed. One on Lake Taupo is on the market for $1m. The grand structures that often replace them are often also referred to as 'my bach'.

Two of Lake Taupo's original baches

A more secluded bach

A bach - yeah right!

Maori Rock Carvings: Matahi's Gift

The cruise on Lake Taupo on the Ernest Kemp took us to see the Maori rock carvings at Mine Bay. They are over 10 metres high and are only accessible by boat. The peaceful spiritual and cultural beauty of these magnificent carvings towering over deep waters are quite awe inspiring.

In the late 1970s master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell came to his mother's land at Lake Taupo and on a boat trip around the Western Bays he saw the cliffs at Mine Bay and saw the opportunity to use them as a canvas for his work.

Matahi decided to carve a likeness of Ngatoroirangi, a visionary Maori navigator who guided the Tuwharetoa and Te Arawa tribes to the Taupo area over a thousand years ago. In recognition of the multi-cultural nature of New Zealand, Matahi also carved two smaller figures of Celtic design, which depict the south wind and a mermaid. The Ngatoroirangi carving took four summers to complete and the carvers took no payment other than donations to cover the cost of the scaffolding.

The carving has become an important cultural attraction for the region and is a wonderful gift and example of traditional Maori knowledge and skills.

A Sail on Lake Taupo

On Thursday before we came home we all went for a sail on Lake Taupo on the 'Ernest Kemp'. Described as a 'vintage steamboat' in some articles on the Web was, in fact, launched in 1980 and is a replica of many boats built in New Zealand in the 1930s.

It has a splendid history and I was rather hoping to tell you about it. Unfortunately I didn't make any notes and can't find anything on the web which is reliable. So I'm just going to show you a few photos and ask you to admite the detailed work which went into the ropework covering almost every part of her iron and brasswork.

The 2 hour cruise was relaxing and interesting - as you will see in the next post.